1974 The Animal Welfare Trust boast that nationally, they homed 60 greyhounds during a two week spell in January.
1985 March 29 The Pall Mall final over 475 metres at Harringay, sponsored at Harringay, sponsored by bookmaker John Power with a first prize of £3,000 goes to the only railer. C M Crane and M J Kane’s Hong Kong Mike (wf d Knockrour Slave-Amalthea, Jan 83) drawn trap one and 11-10 favourite has things all his own way, when the five wide runners jostle at the first bend.
1964 Noonhans Rhapsody establishes himself as king of the pensioners when landing the Veterans Championship for the second year – aged six and a half. Trained by Jimmy Jowett and owned by the wife of a Yorkshire timber merchant, Rhapsody (Ballymac Ball-Varsal Bay, Oct 57) was bought for connections by Don Cuddy for 165 guineas at Shelbourne Sales. He went on to reach a string of major final, twice winning the Cloth of Gold and Stewards Cup. The veterans decider is his 244th race with a record of 75 wins and £3,362 in prize money.
1974 The Hackney racing office face abuse from various trainers whose dogs were not accepted for the 48 runner 1000 Guineas. There were 111 entries!
1957 Greyhound registration papers and Stamford Bridge racecards were found in a room at Goldens Farm, near Billingshurst alongside the bodies of Myrtle Argent and her son, Anthony. The body of Mrs Argent’s second husband Frederick – a known heavy gambler – was found alongside a shotgun in a bedroom. All three died from gunshot wounds.
2002 Jerry Desmond, in his role as Chief Executive of the Irish Coursing Club is appointed president of the World Greyhound Racing Federation. Desmond attends the inauguration meeting in Macau, representing the Northern Irish tracks, Ballyskeagh and Derry. The Federation announce that the ICC will host the following year’s conference in Cork, even though the Irish Greyhound Board and its British counterpart the BGRB have both left the organisation.
1997 A crown court trial heard that an attempted betting coup at Catford using beta blockers, was a second attempt. The first, staged a month earlier, had been successful and netted a kennel hand in Arthur Boyce’s kennel over £5,000 in winnings. The second coup was only spotted when bookmakers noticed unusually high betting patterns. Three defendents are found guilty of attempting to defraud. Trainers Arthur Boyce and Sue Brown are sacked.
2002 Top Jock is 5-1ante post favourite for the Grand National. He will finish runner-up to Ballyvorda Jock, available at 12-1 ante post.
1984 I’m Slippy is awarded the Irish Track Greyhound of the Year award by Bord na gCon despite never having raced in Eire. John Quinn’s dog achieved his success at Northern Ireland’s Celtic Park and Dunmore tracks, and at White City.
1969 Farma Zora (Mad Era-Rorys Sally, Apr 67) was a surprise 10 length winner of the most prestigious final of the month, the 880 yard GRA Stakes at White City. Her jubilant West Indian owner, Bob Warner, told assembled reporters “Enoch Powell can send me home. I don’t care now!”
1974 Well known owner trainer Tom Unwin has plans for a new greyhound track, around the Enfield Harriers athletics track, rejected by the local council.
2002 Figures reveal that the 24Dogs news service, owned by GRA, lost £1.3m the previous year.
1996 Pat Dalton unveils two exceptional youngsters in a 30.70 confined stake at Limerick. Nine month old Wise Flyer clocks 29.40, litter sister Wise Beauty records a brilliant 29.17.
1958 One of the great post war sires, Sandown Champion dies of a heart attack aged 10. A winner of the 1950 Irish Coursing Derby, he sired the 1953 and 1954 winners of the same event, Blarney Champion and Local Master. His track progeny included English Derby winner Pauls Fun and runner-up Galtee Cleo.
2002 Two trainers with runners due to race at Nottingham, Tony Lucas and Hazel Kemp, were phoned by a hoaxer and advised that the meeting had been cancelled.
1949 Wembley place an advert for entries for the 1949 American Greyhound Derby at Taunton in Massachusetts. It is ‘restricted’ to dogs whelped between 1944 and 1947! The 64 entries @ $200 will compete three times in six days over 525 yards. The winner collects $15,000 – which could have been exchanged to around £3,600 – that’s right, just over $4 to the £1.
2012 Ricky Holloway proves he has something of the ‘Sir Mark Prescott’ about him in his handling of Airforce Spirit. In a move reminiscent of the Newmarket handler, whose skill at circumventing race conditions and restrictions is legendary, Holloway enters his runner in three maiden opens within five days – thus circumventing the “not have won an open race at the time of entry” and wins the lot.
1995 BOLA announce an inquiry into an ‘unnamed favourite’ betting coup at Swindon where the winners of three suspect races were returned at 5-2 and 3-1 (twice).
1986 Greyhound authorities hail the jailing of a race-wrecker for six months as an important precedent following a series of similar incidents. Ian Gullefer (22) from Chadwell Heath, jumped onto the track at Romford when a runner he had backed was in third place and unlikely to win. However, for the first time, instead of prosecuting under ‘public order’ offenses, Essex Police charged Gullefer with attempted theft.
2002 Crack sprinter Parliament Act is retired to stud after going lame in the trainers championship meeting at Hove. The Charlie Lister trained brindle had won 34 of his 58 open races and set new track records Belle Vue, Hove, Monmore, Sheffield and Nottingham.
1978 The Newspaper Press Fund Gala Charity Meeting at London White City brings together most of the best greyhounds in training, and the highlight of the evening is the Daily Mirror Invitation Trophy over 500 metres, worth £400 plus trophy to the winner. R Bacci sends out his champion Balliniska Band (wbk d Lively Band-Central, May 75) for his first race there since his track record victory the previous June. Up against him is St Leger, winner Stormy Spirit, Grand Prix winner Paradise Spectre, Oaks winner Switch Off, Edinburgh Cup winner Linacre and Scurry Gold Cup winner Wired To Moon. Made 11-10 favourite Balliniska Band just holds off his litter brother Linacre by a neck in 30.02.
2003 GRA announce a £4.5 million profit for 2002. Crowds were down by five per cent compared to an industry decline of 6%.
1986 Three times trainer of the year Phil Rees dies after a short illness. The former private, Clapton and Wimbledon trainer handled many fine greyhounds including Derby winner Mutts Silver, the home bred Xmas Holiday and one of the greatest bitches of all time, Cranog Bet. Phil is the father of Philip and grandfather of Richard.
1995 The Trainers Championship meeting is struggling. First Charlie Lister withdraws and his place taken by John Coleman. Next to pull out is Tony Meek followed by his likely replacement, Jim Gibson. With organisers having seemingly found a suitable back-up in Terry Dartnall, another of the original sextet, Dave Conway announces his withdrawal. The meeting will eventually be won by Coleman.
2012 The trainers championship meeting at Parry Barr is won in impressive style by Nick Savva who was quoted at 40-1 earlier in the day and 100-1 after his first two runners had each finished last. However, Westmead Bolt (8-1) and Bubbly Swallow (5-1), two seconds, a third and a fourth to get home by three points from Charlie Lister. The Newark trainer has no runner priced bigger than 3-1 and includes six of the eight favourites. Following the meeting sponsors Betfair announce that after seven years, they will no longer support the event due to a initial boycott threat issued by five trainers. In a statement the betting exchange express their anger that they were not approached by GOBATA and only found out about the possible boycott of the televised meeting after reading a statement on the GOBATA website.
1964 New owner Bernard Shannon writes his first letter to the Greyhound Express describing the “cancer” of large numbers of greyhounds are put to sleep at the end of their racing careers. Mr Shannon suggests the building of kennels in a remote area with owners required to pay £1 per week towards the costs of keeping the dogs with 10% of all prize money also deducted to maintain the venture. As good as his word, he and wife Ann devote their lives to their cause, and are honoured many years later for having re-homed 10,000 greyhounds.
1976 Paradise Peg (Coommutering-Rit Peg Princess) sets a new Catford 555m track record when winning the Greenwich Cup. Ted Griffin’s brindle beats Ka Boom and Angel Eyes in 34.82.
1986 Ballygroman Jim and Hot Sauce Yankee are 16-1 joint ante post favourites for the English Derby.
1991 Four littermates ran races at Penrith in Australia during the course of a week. They all clocked 36.31 for the 617 metres.
1994 Following a brilliant 28.45 trial at Hall Green, Tony Meek’s recently arrived young Irish import Moral Standards is subject of a hefty ante post gamble on the ’94 English Derby. A rush of money sees the dog who was first backed at 400-1, then again at 66s, now as low as 14s.
1959 Actor and comedian Syd James, currently working on the Hancock series, decided to back runners trained by namesake Brighton trainer Arthur Hancook, on his visit to the South Coast stadium. His reward was three winners from eight races.
2009 Wimbledon trainer Andrew Peacock is fined £1,000 following the performance of Yak Yak Joe. His uncle Alan Peacock is made a disqualified person.
1987 Glenroe Hiker (Monalee Hiker-Glenroe Bess, May 76) has to be put to sleep following a short illness. Nick Savva said: “It was a combination of old age and an infection. He lost a lot of weight and his hind legs started to go.” On the track, the son of Monalee Hiker won the Dunmore Puppy Cup, finished runner-up beaten a length and in the Irish National Sprint and started second favourite in the 1978 final won by Lacca Champion. Owned by Mary McGrath, the May ’76 whelp had been retired from stud duties as something of a failure when Nick Savva took him on. Hiker went ot become the leading British sire with many offsrping blessed with his trademark early pace. In the following years, he threw Rikasso Mick, Rikasso Hiker, Mistley Trojan, Money Matters, Parkers Gold, Westmead Tania, Westmead Alva, Aitch Bee, Cannonroe and Westmead Cannon.
2010 Former Coventry racing manager Russ Watkin was fined £5,000 and severely reprimanded for allowing 67 races to be staged prior to their official ‘off time’. The offenses occurred between September and October the previous year. The enquiry found no evidence of a connection between the track and a Sheffield based employee from the off-course betting industry who had placed numerous successful winning bets on the affected races. In a separate enquiry trainer Mark McManus is found guilty of fraudulently obtaining money from the Trainers Assistance Fund via a grant for traveling cages in a vehicle.
1991 During the racing manager’s conference it is agreed to run a trial whereby the RMs will be allowed to split wides and rails equally prior to the trap draws of heats of competitions. Several trainers including Linda Mullins, Paddy Milligan and John Coleman are opposed to the plan which goes before the BGRB consultative committee who throw it out. Hove racing manager Jim Layton is disgusted. He states: “The conference is a waste of time. I have been going since the sixties and have yet to see a decision get through.”
2009 Former Hungarian racer Kengyelfuto Snow (Braydon Shiraz-Roadrunner Miss) makes his UK debut for Mark Wallis. The dog goes on to win four open races including a 29.44 for 480m at Sittingbourne and a 24.26 for 400m at Romford.
1969 Ladbrokes boss Cyril Stein is several years ahead of legislation when he announces plans to put fruit machines, cigarette machines and chocolate dispensers in all the company’s betting shops.
2004 2000 Greyhound of the Year Palace Issue dies suddenly after suffering a massive stroke.
1947 The Waterloo Cup is cancelled due to inclement weather for the first time in its history. Repeated cancellation had eventually encroached on the end of the coursing season on March 10. The only three previous cancellations were due to World War I. Many disheartened coursing followers head for the national coursing meeting at Powerstown Park in Clonmel. Their meeting is abandoned after the second day.
1976 March 24 The BBD TV Trophy final over 815 metres at Belle Vue, is a personal triumph for Perry Barr trainer Brian Jay, when his Aughadonagh Jock at 12-1 beats his kennel companion Dunworkin at 3-1 with Go Ahead Girl, Doverdale Lady, Young Hostess and the favourite Butchers Trac down the field.
1991 Barry Silkman had a novel excuse when star stayer Carlsberg Champ failed to perform in an open at Wembley. ‘Silks’ revealed that at the pick-up the dog was found to have the ring-pull from a canned drink around a toe.
1957 Trainer Sidney Orton has all six runners in an S6 graded race at Wimbledon. It goes to 11-4 second favourite Velvet Cloak who wins by four and a half lengths. The beaten favourite (evens) finishes third.
2011 Rockview Head, eliminated in the semis of the €15,000 to winner Juvenile Classic at Tralee, is re-instated to the final following a withdrawal through lameness. The Peter Cronin trained dog duly wins the final at 5-1.
1969 Waterford trainer Nicky Kervick travels to Boston in New England with 30 young greyhounds, brought for around £12,000, which he hopes to sell into the American market.
1977 Private Autumn fetches 2,200 guineas at Shelbourne Sales,. The same dog had been sold at the track’s November sale for 75 guineas.
1959 Mullingar introduce a new 820 yard distance and managed to get sponsors for two eight bend races on the same card. The new marathon distance is the longest in operation on any Irish track.
1991 Trainer Ted Soppitt has two dogs stolen from a van parked at Spennymoor. There is a £1,000 reward for information leading to their recovery.
1949 The NGRC announce that from June 1, only one of the existing four types of racing muzzle will be allowed. It is the ‘new wire muzzle’ design that is still in use to this day.
1969 Monmore stage their first ever greyhound sale. The 42 lots sold raise over £4,500, the highest average price ever raised by the auctioneers who regularly stage greyhound sales at Hackney. Top lot Ozier Prince (300gns) wins more than £500 in prize money before the end of the year.
2004 2000 Greyhound of the Year Palace Issue dies suddenly after suffering a massive stroke.
1986 Three times trainer of the year Phil Rees dies after a short illness. The former private, Clapton and Wimbledon trainer handled many fine greyhounds including Derby winner Mutts Silver, the home bred Xmas Holiday and one of the greatest bitches of all time, Cranog Bet. Phil is the father of Philip and grandfather of Richard.
